Dogs Rule by Janna Krupinski – Buffalo – 300 pieces
Fun and quick puzzle that was the first one back at the board after too many days stuck in bed. What an adorable puzzle – look at all those sweet faces!
Great quality puzzle, although I’ve found that most companies that make 300 piece puzzles make certain that the pieces are thick and easy to hold. Many older people who puzzle prefer this size because the pieces are larger – both easier to see the image and easier to hold for those whose fine motor skills may be deteriorating. I enjoy this size because they’re normally very good quality and a nice palate cleanser after a larger piece count.
There’s really no need for any closeups of the dogs, you can clearly see all of their faces.
Except for this little one in the corner. There’s something about that smile.
My apologies to any cat lovers out there, but this sign made me laugh. It reminds me of Homeward Bound: The Incredible Journey – that famous quote from Sassy, the cat. “Cats rule and dogs drool”. 🐶😸
I was in the mood for a quick collage, and this beautiful 300 piece fit the bill just right! And as a coffee lover, of course the image spoke to me – gotta have my coffee in the mornings. ☕
The quality of this Cra-Z-Art puzzle had me pleasantly surprised. Excellent fit, beautiful image reproduction, good variety of shapes, and sturdy chipboard – all of these were better than I’d assumed they’d be. Don’t you love it when things are better than you thought? I do!
This was my favorite section, the hands cupping the mug make almost a heart. LOVE me some coffee! Black with two sugars please. 🖤
I love being able to do this with a puzzle. And I was so sure of this fit that I took this picture BEFORE I took any other pictures. I knew it wouldn’t fall apart, so there was no fear at all – I just picked it up and stood it on it’s bottom edge. That is not how things usually go, I always take my regular pictures before standing up a puzzle, just in case things go pear-shaped. The fit on this puzzle was exceptional!
Still Life-Fast Moving by Salvador Dali – Ravensburger – 300 pieces
Oh man this was so much fun, it was done in one sitting! I should have taken a break, I should have taken several breaks – because I paid for my insistence on staying seated for that long – but it was worth it. I love puzzles. 💛
This was a fantastic puzzle to do after the horrid mandala by Page Publications; this was like eating fresh fruit after having to lick garbage – it tastes like nectar from the gods. Sorry for the gross imagery, but honestly the difference between the two was equally as great. Ravensburger quality – especially with the smaller piece counts – is excellent!
This is actually the first image by Salvador Dali that I’ve done and I enjoyed it very much. Famous art doesn’t always make for the most entertaining puzzles (for me anyways), and I haven’t seen one of Dali’s works from a good brand that I wanted to assemble until now. Eternal thanks to my friend and fellow puzzle blogger Nicola from Puzzler1909 for sending this in our puzzle swap – it was lovely!
Started with the bedspread/tablecloth, it was the most difficult part, and sometimes I like to get the hard parts out of the way at the beginning.
Loved this section, it’s so crisp and clear it looks almost like a photograph – fantastic!
Influential Women by Nour Thome – Buffalo – 300 pieces
This puzzle went together way too fast, it was too entertaining to only be a 300 piece puzzle – it needs to be at least 1000 pieces, because the fun was over way too quickly for my taste.
It was a good quality Buffalo puzzle, the only fault was that there was one very bent piece. It happens. Otherwise the fit was excellent, the reproduction was lovely, it had a good variety of piece shapes – just a very nice quality puzzle to work with.
Of the twenty influential women in this image, I knew 17 of them. Instead of picking my favorite women, or my favorite depiction of the women – I chose the three whose names and stories I didn’t know to highlight here. Maybe some of you don’t know about them either.
Sit up and pay attention class, we’re going to learn about three influential women today. And if you’re already familiar with them – look at the pretty pictures. 😉
Ada Lovelace. I’m ashamed that I didn’t know about her, why do they not teach things like this in school? I think math would have been more interesting to me in high school if I had known about this lady, she was amazing! She was the daughter of the famed poet Lord Byron, her full name was Augusta Ada (Byron) King, Countess of Lovelace. But way more important than her being the daughter of a famous dude and marrying the Earl of Lovelace, she was awesome all by herself. She was a gifted mathematician from a very early age, and envisioned the world’s first computer and how it would work – called the Analytical Engine. She is considered the first computer programmer, as she wrote a “program” for her concept, and also introduced many other computer concepts. Oh, did I mention she was born in 1815 and died in 1852? She wrote what is considered the first computer program in 1842!
Jeanne Baret was the first woman to completely circumnavigate the globe, of course she had to be disguised as a man to do it. She was, according to some accounts, an expert botantist; and so she joined the crew of the Bougainville expedition. She collected specimens of plants, one of which was a flowering vine that ended up being named after the expedition’s leader – bougainvillea. Even though she was disguised as a man in order to be able to work on the ship, she was found out. But once she had completed her world trip she was granted a yearly pension from the Ministry of Marine to be drawn from the fund for invalid servicemen. She was a badass woman in my book.
Annie Edson Taylor, nicknamed The Queen of the Mist, was a schoolteacher turned daredevil. On her 63rd birthday, in 1901, she was the first person to go over Niagra Falls in a barrel – and survive. Can you imagine doing that at 63 years old? I’m feeling tired and sore just thinking about it.
She was quoted as saying she’d rather stand in front of a cannon knowing it would blow her to bits rather than go over the falls again. It seems as though she didn’t enjoy the ride, and I can’t say that I blame her.
There were so many women with great stories shown on this puzzle; from Joan of Arc to Ruth Bader Ginsburg to Bessie Coleman and Malala Yousafzai – I could list all of them because they’re all amazing, influential women in their own rights. I learned lots about these kickass women, in addition to having such a good time assembling the puzzle. It is highly recommended.
American Eage by Sharon Turner – Sure-Lox – 300 pieces
This is such beautiful artwork, I love the feeling of different colors and textures that form such a striking image. It was very quick to go together, and made for an excellent puzzling experience.
Sure-Lox puzzles used to be on my “never buy” list, but their quality has improved quite a bit. Their update with better quality and new packaging puts them nearer the middle of the road as far as quality brands for me. The pieces are thick and the fit is very good. The finish is quite shiny but otherwise the image reproduction is good as well. Only having one piece shape is a bummer, but in a 300 piece puzzle it isn’t quite as annoying to me – especially when the image is so interesting.
This is the first puzzle image from Sharon Turner that I’ve done, and I have to tell you that it was absolutely fabulous to assemble. The colors, textures, and overall artwork are just beautiful and it made for a really entertaining puzzle. I hope there are more of her images on puzzles for me to find.
My Jigsaw Journal 